Hanging Threads
by chlorineobsession
Summary: [Shikatema] A series of one-shots from Shikamaru and Temari during their married life. Chapter five: Where Temari is an evil and troublesome woman.
1. Care

_When we were little,  
Did you think you would be  
Living in the middle  
With someone like me?  
I won't care for myself.  
I can't care for myself._

* * *

He'd considered just never getting married, but the disappointed look his father had given him at the prospect had dissuaded him from pursuing that option, even in thought; that is why Shikamaru had settled on the less troublesome path: He'll just marry a simple girl.

But that was before he knew anything of love and marriage. (It was _also_ before he really knew Temari.)

Nevertheless, he'd thought that once that sort of choice came to him, it would be as simple as picking a path to go down at a crossroads.

That is the reason why sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder wether Temari was disappointed in herself for marrying him. Neither of them had ended up in the relationship they'd expected for themselves.

Shikamaru certainly wasn't complaining, he loved his wife and was happy with her and their son, not that he'd ever voice that thought aloud-he and Temari weren't that type of couple.

It just struck him that they'd never spoken of wether or not they were happy with each other. Temari had never heard his "Grand Plan", but he'd never heard hers either.

He peered down at the blonde that was curled up in his arms, asleep. It was a fairly rare occurrence -for her to be asleep longer than him in the mornings.

Did she love him?

He couldn't just ask that, could he? She'd said it to him once before, but that was during their wedding vows, so he didn't know how much that counted. He had said It a few more times, but she seemed to ignore it every time. He had to admit that it stung a little.

He was completely and utterly in love with her, there was no doubt about that. But did she feel the same?

When she was little, did she see herself as someone who'd stay at home and look after the house while waiting for her husband's return?

As someone who had a lazy husband who was home after she fell asleep, and who she had to wake up in the mornings?

He subconsciously held her closer as he continued to think. He wanted to make her happy, but he had no idea wether she was or not.

He couldn't take care of himself without a catastrophe incurring, and if it weren't for her existence he would probably be out doing shitty low-rank missions on a weekly basis. Maybe he'd have the plain wife and two non-descript children, but he wouldn't be strong or brave or anywhere near as happy as he was in reality.

Could anyone love her as much as he did?

She could have had a great future, and he knew how much she missed having missions. She could have married a richer man. A more attractive man.

Someone from Suna.

"Is this really what you wanted from life?" He whispered into her hair, holding her closer still.

He was, quite simply, a better person when he was with her.

"Of what?" She murmured, half-opening her eyes.

He bit his lip: He hadn't intended to wake her up.

"Are you happy, Tem?" He sighed, figuring there was no point in lying about his question.

She looked slightly taken aback and she brought her hands up to rub her eyes.

"Sure I am. I slept well."

"No... I mean." He sighed and loosened his grip slightly. "Are you happy in this marriage?"

Her eyes narrowed instantly.

"Shikamaru... What are you getting at?"

He realised that his sentence hadn't been cleverly phrased and he shook his head.

"I just want to be sure that you're not disappointed. In me."

Her look softened and she chuckled.

"You're not what I had in mind when I was a kid, but no. I'm not disappointed in you. Yes, I'm happy."

His curiosity got the better of him and he couldn't resist the temptation to ask her-"What _was_ your plan?"

She blushed a little bit and looked away from him. "It's not exactly the most conventional wedding dream. I wanted to marry someone from Suna who would be a stay-at-home guy. That changed ages ago though."

"My plan changed too, I guess."

"Oh? Do explain."

"I wanted to marry a plain girl who was as far from troublesome as I could get. And I wanted a daughter, then a son."

"When did your plan change?"

He sighed and masked a smile as his eyes settled on her concerned expression.

"During the war."

They didn't talk about the war, it was an unspoken rule that they both seemed content with.

"Same,"

"Did you get your changed plan?"

"Yes," she smirked. "You?"

"Yup."

Temari brushed her fringe out of her eyes and moved up so that they were at eye-level.

"Do you know what my new plan was?"

"Do tell."

"I wanted a guy who would actually give a damn about me. Someone who could accept the fact that I'm not perfect, and I don't want to be. I wanted someone who would work hard for the right things, and not fuss over the rest."

He smirked and pulled her in close so that he could kiss her.

"Do you want to know what mine was?"

"Of course."

"I wanted Temari,"

She chuckled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Charming, Nara."

"Thankyou, Nara."

They lay in silence for a while until Shikamaru spoke up again.

"We don't talk enough."

He felt her nod in his arms and he continued.

"If I told you what I'm feeling, do you promise me you'll stay?"

"Always,"

"I love you, Tem."

She hesitated for a moment before lifting her gaze to meet him.

"I love myself too. You're alright as well, I guess."

He laughed out loud and placed a kiss on her forehead. There was no doubt about it-she wasn't disappointed.

"I'm alright?"

"Hnn, if I were a more open person, I would go as far as to say that I love you too. But I'm not sappy like you."

"So you love me?"

"I might just be _in_ love with you."

He pressed his lips to hers and felt her smile.

"I'm glad."

"Indeed, Nara."

"Thankyou, Nara."

* * *

 **A/N: Inspired by the song "Care" by Bry. I would definitely recommend it!**

 **These updates aren't going to be regular or anything, just random one-shots in no particular order. Please tell me if you have any scenarios you'd like me to write!**

 **Please Review!**

 **~Lee ;)**


	2. Fifty Percent

It could go two ways:

Well, or badly.

That meant he only had a fifty percent chance of fucking things up.

Only fifty. But then he also had other factors to take into account.

How he phrased it, when he asked, what had been happening before hand...

That brought the likelihood of it going badly up to eighty-five to ninety percent.

Ugh, _why_ did proposals have to be so damn troublesome?!

He couldn't do it somewhere public, that would just be a death wish. If he did it at sunset, she'd laugh at him, and he didn't want any variety of cheese to be associated with his new nickname.

He glanced up for a split second at where she was seated opposite him at the desk. Her stack of paperwork was almost completely diminished and she had a small frown in place and a smudge of ink in the corner of one of her eyes from rubbing it with her hand.

He shook his head and turned back to his assignment.

He couldn't exactly do it during work, could he?

She'd probabl-

"Yo, what's up?"

He glanced up from the sheet of paper that he'd been staring at blankly for possibly the past ten minutes.

"Nothing!" His voice came out more high-pitched and panicked than he'd hoped, and he winced as she narrowed he eyes at him.

Why was he so helplessly in love with such a troublesome specimen of the human species?

"Temari," he said eventually, dropping the sheet onto the table and looking at her.

"That would be me. Lucky you," she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair, giving him all her attention.

Shit. It would have been easier if he'd caught her off guard...

"Um so. Um..."

She arched her eyebrow at him.

"I owe you the world," he began, figuring that he could stall with compliments.

He cringed slightly at how cheesy it sounded. Sure, he did in a sense, but he couldn't just say that.

"The world isn't yours to give." She said smoothly, her eyes still set on his. _Smartass._

"My life then?"

"Your life isn't mine to take."

He sighed. "You're making this a hell of a lot harder for me, you know that?"

"Of course I know. That's the _point_." She smiled at him before turning back to the paperwork in front of her and lined the sheets up neatly.

"And by the way, if you're going to propose, it's going to have to be done properly. Down on one knee, Nara."

"I-I'M NOT PROPO-"

"Do you keep snacks in the box?"

"What box?"

He looked down at his lap where, sure enough, he'd been fiddling with the box that held a ring which he'd spent hours picking out. _Shit_.

"You just had to ruin the moment, didn't you?' He sighed, placing the box on the table between them.

She chuckled and stood up, picking the box up as she made her way around to his side of the table.

"I guess I have to do all the work, don't I?"

She pulled his chair around so that hey were face-to-face before sinking down to one knee and smirking.

"I guess I really _am_ the one who wears the trousers in this relationship." She said with a voice of mock exasperation.

"Nara. We tolerate each other. You are _madly_ in love with me and you want me to be your wife. The prospect disgusts me-"

He stared at her serious face as it broke into a smile.

"-Far less than the prospect of spending my life with anybody else. Shikamaru, if I say yes: Will you promise to stick by me?"

He realised that his jaw had dropped half way through her little performance. He quickly readjusted himself and tried to hide a laugh.

"How do you know the ring is for you?"

"Cheating would be troublesome. You know how I am."

He laughed out loud and scooped her up onto his lap, kissing her gently.

"Yes, troublesome. Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes please. Please let me be your husband. I'll stay by you. I'll stand with you."

"Like a leech." She snorted.

"Stop killing the mood."

"Okay, Mozzarella, now that that little issue is sorted, you have work to get through."

She hopped off his lap and pointed to the paperwork that was piled high.

"But-"

"No buts, chop chop!"

She left the room to brew some tea and Shikamaru sighed.

And so it begins, he thought shaking his head before breaking into a smile.

And so, the Nara legacy continued.

* * *

 **A/N: Hellooo~**

 **Of course, I couldn't let their proposal be typical, could I? Thank you all so much for all the reviews, they prompted me to write this chapter up a lot quicker than I would have!**

 **Please follow / fave / Review!**

 **~Lee ;)**


	3. Ready?

Temari stared. "Well _fuck_ you."

She was too angry to even break it.

"Hey, what's up... Oh." His eyes settled on what she was holding in her hand.

She glared at him for his lack of... Any emotion.

" _Oh?_ " She repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Well now what?"

"Well now, _NARA,_ we fucking tell no one." She shook her head and ran her fingers through her loose hair. "We're not even fucking _married_ ," she hissed.

"Yet."

"Nara. We've been engaged for a grand total of two weeks. We haven't even told half your friends yet."

"That's easy enough to rectify."

"Look, why are you so chill about this?" She sighed, mildly disappointed that he wasn't freaking out.

"You're not so hysterical yourself."

He had a point. She wasn't exactly... Angry, but the knowledge that she was pregnant hadn't fully settled in yet. It had only been twenty seconds, dammit!

She just didn't know whether she'd do a good job as a mother. The word was alien to her tongue, and she couldn't even bring herself to say it. Mother...

But then Shikamaru? He turned out great, and he had a dad during most of his lifetime, so he had some kind of template to work from...

"I'm fucked." She said eventually.

"Well clearly, and by me I should hope."

She stared at him with a blank expression until he awkwardly cleared his throat and apologised, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Look Tem... We can talk about this at some point later, if you'd prefer. If you don't feel like you're ready..."

"Screw that. What does it matter if I'm ready or not? I sure as hell wasn't ready for the war but I didn't back out of that. Are you _doubting_ me?!"

He smirked at her anger and shook his head. "The real question should be am _I_ ready for nine months of cranky Tem?"

She hit him over the head as he pulled her in for a hug.

"It's fine. With my good looks, at least the kid won't disappoint in the aesthetics department." He teased, tugging on a strand of her hair.

"Oh please. I don't need another Nara in my life."

He raised an eyebrow at that before pulling her away from the comfortable spot in his arms that she'd claimed as her own.

He studied her face carefully for a moment before speaking.

"Are you okay with this?"

"The pregnancy? Do you think I want to be carting around a long-term investment for nine months? _Hell_ no!" She joked, subconsciously glancing down at her belly to see if it had gotten any bigger. Of course not, she was only pregnant a few days at most.

"Temari, I'm serious. Are you okay with having my kid?"

She frowned at him. "Don't go taking all the credit, bitch. It's mine too."

"That's not what I mean." He sighed, looking genuinely worried-a rare sight.

"Shikamaru. If I didn't want to have kids with you, I wouldn't have agreed to marrying you." She softened when she saw his uncertain expression.

"I actually think I want this," she admitted, resting her hand on his cheek.

"Really?"

"Yeah," she realised as she spoke that it was the truth. "I may not be as prepared as I'd like but... Yeah. I think we'll manage."

Shikamaru had never looked so happy in all the time she'd known him, and she couldn't help the surge of pride that took over her.

"I love you," he said, pulling her in to a hug once again.

She said nothing as he held her close, still too shocked to converse like a normal person.

"What about my career? What about where I'll live? What about-"

"We can figure it all out later. You're always welcome to live with me, you know that, but if you want to stay in Suna during the pregnancy, I can take time off work and we can go from there. Maybe you can still go on lower ranking missions during the early stages if you miss them..."

He trailed off when he saw her grin.

"What?"

"Thanks, Shikamaru."

"For what?"

"Just... For being the way you are."

Shikamaru smiled genuinely at her.

"Well if I wasn't to survive the next few months, I'm going to have to be nice..."

Temari's low chuckle sent shivers down his spine.

"Ohoho. Yes. You. Are..."

She saw him gulp and she smiled at him teasingly.

"Just wait till the cravings kick in. You're going to regret knowing me."

She laughed as she left the bathroom, her hand subconsciously drifting towards her abdomen.

Something told her it was a girl...

* * *

 **A/N: Right, so I lied. This will be in some kind of chronological order with the first chapter being somewhat irrelevant to the story line. We good?**

 **Thank you all so much for the reviews!**

 **Please let me know what you think of this one too! Follow/fave/review!**

 **~Lee XD**


	4. Putting Things Off

"Shikamaru?"

"Hn?" He glanced lazily over at her, seated at the edge of the sofa and filling in a sudoku grid.

"Where are we going to live? After we get married and all? I mean, we need to think about these things."

"Well what do you prefer?" He asked, turning to her and giving her his undivided attention by setting the newspaper he had been reading down on the coffee table.

"... If I'm being honest, I don't think I'd find it easy to leave Suna but... I don't want to pull you away from your friends and your life and-"

"We still have time to think about it. "

He scooted over to her and wrapped an arm across her shoulders to pull her into him, his hand drifting to her abdomen as it tended to do quite a bit in the past three months.

She laughed a little bit at his action and nuzzled into his neck with a small smile.

"Ino knows." She mumbled. "She took one look at me and smirked."

Although Temari's belly had only swollen a bit, she had taken to wearing loose fitting clothes, and she hadn't visited her brothers in two months, so no one knew yet. They were unsure of how to break the news to the others who, as far as they knew, were still enjoying their lives without the prospect of children on the horizon.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. You should probably go to her for a check up at some point. Ino won't blab if we ask her not to. Maybe."

"Yeah. I probably should."

The next day, they headed to the florists together, and Ino gave them that same smile.

"Finally come to break the news?" She asked slyly.

"Yes Ino. Temari's pregnant."

Ino squealed (even though she already knew) and hugged Temari excitedly.

"CAN I BE GODMOTHER?!" She explained, causing Temari to leave her side and observe some of the floral arrangements on display.

"Shh!" Shikamaru groaned, having been left alone to deal with Ino. "Can you please not make a big deal out of this? You're the first person we've told..."

Ino only became prouder as he told her this, and she took to bouncing on the balls of her feet before stopping suddenly with a serious expression.

"Chōji has only gone on one date with Karui, and Sai and I aren't really that far along in our relationship to..." She shook her head. "Maybe we won't be getting an Ino-Shika-Chō formation this time around..."

Shikamaru was a little surprised. "I don't think that'll be an issue. I've always wanted two kids. A girl and then a boy."

"Has she gone for a checkup yet?"

"No. That's why we're here. We trust you not to tell anybody."

The three of them made their way to the hospital as discretely as they could and Ino ushered them into one of the maternal consultancy offices before shooing Shikamaru out.

"Do you want to know the gender?" Ino asked after allowing Shikamaru back in.

"I think I already know." Temari said, leaning forward as much as her belly would allow. "Is it healthy though?"

"You're in perfect shape, Tema. The baby also. What do you think it is?"

"I think it's a girl."

Shikamaru glanced at her, "You never told me that."

"I've never been sure, and I didn't want to get your hopes up..."

"Well it _is_ a girl, so congratulations guys!"

Shikamaru beamed at her. "Really?"

Ino nodded. "Yes. As far as I can tell. There is always the likelihood that I'm wrong, but that's never happened before."

She ushered the pair out of the hospital and told them to have a nice, relaxing "night in" together, and they saw no reason to protest.

"A girl, huh?"

"So it would seem."

"Shikamaru?"

"Hn?"

"How do you feel about me telling my brothers and Baki soon?"

"Go ahead. I can take a few days off and we can go to Suna together."

Temari smiled at him. "Sounds good."

As they packed their things, Temari chattered away about how she wanted to tell them casually and not make a big deal out of it.

Halfway through her talking, she froze and looked him dead in the eye.

"They're going to ask us what we plan on doing once she's born."

"Well I don't know about you, but I plan on raising her."

She gave him a sharp flick to the ear and shook her head, concealing a laugh.

"I meant where we plan on living: We're hitting them with a massive wall of information, and being told about both the baby _and_ the wedding is definitely going to be one hell of a blow to them. I mean, I don't think Gaara even knows we've had sex!"

Shikamaru held back a laugh and shrugged.

"We can think abo-"

"Shikamaru. We're running out of time to be thinking things over. We can't keep putting these decisions off."

He sighed heavily and set down the pair of socks he'd been holding.

"Temari. I want you to be happy." He said carefully. "And I love Konoha and my friends, but I'm willing to move to Suna if that's what would make it easier."

"Oh. Wow." Temari stared at him and shook her head. "But you've got your job and..."

"And you've got yours. Like I said, we have time. We need to sit down and think of all the aspects of this before we come up with a conclusion. This can't be rushed."

He walked over to stand by her side as they wrapped their arms around each other.

"I want this to be perfect."

"Yeah," Temari whispered, smiling when she felt him place a kiss on her hair.

"But now, we pack."

* * *

 _ **A/N: You guys can probably see exactly where this is heading, but anyways I hope that what I end up writing might offer some kind of explanation to why Boruto fucked up what we wanted for these two, cos god almighty Shikatema is a massive disappointment in that series.**_

 _ **Please do let me know what you think :)**_

 _ **~Lee**_


	5. Ease

They hadn't decided to make a detour until the next morning, but without exchanging a single word, both Shikamaru and Temari turned left towards the Nara compound instead of right towards the village gates as they left the apartment.

Yoshino answered mere seconds after they knocked and a smile instantly appeared on her face when she saw the couple standing on the porch.

"Temari," she beamed, stepping aside to let them both in. "How lovely of you to stop by!"

Shikamaru wandered into the kitchen to boil some water as his mother and Temari made their way to the sitting room.

"So how have you been?" He heard his mother ask.

"Wonderful," Temari replied cautiously. "We've decided to go to Suna for a few days since Shikamaru took some time off work."

Shikamaru poured the water into a ceramic teapot along with some loose jasmine tea leaves before ambling into the sitting room just in time to hear his mother ask:

"What are you hoping to do in Sunagakure?"

He could feel Temari's eyes on him as he set down the teapot and seated himself to Temari's right, just opposite his mother.

He was about to answer when Yoshino stood up and shook her head.

"You forgot the cups, Shikamaru." She sighed, mockingly disappointed.

She shuffled into the kitchen and they heard the cupboard opening, followed by the clinking of the small, handleless ceramic cups that had accompanied the teapot in a set. It had been a gift for his parents' wedding, if he remembered correctly, from his father's mother.

She came back in with the three cups and lowered herself back down in front of her son.

"Better," she sighed. "What were we saying?"

Shikamaru saw this as his opportunity to stall for a bit before breaking the news to her. As if sensing his relief at his mother's forgetfulness, Temari smirked.

"We were taking about our trip to Suna." She said.

Shikamaru gave her a betrayed look, causing her smile to grow.

"Oh yes, what's the occasion?"

 _Evil woman. Evil troublesome woman._

"Well Temari had something she wanted to tell you." Shikamaru countered. _Two can play at that game._

It was Temari's turn to look bewildered.

"W-Well uhh..."

Yoshino looked at them confused. "Yes?"

"I think it would make more sense for Shikamaru to say it."

"Oh out with it, Shikamaru!" Yoshino laughed.

 _Just bite the bullet and pull the trigger_ he thought to himself.

"I'm going to be a dad, Mom."

A sudden silence fell over the table.

"You're... You're what?" Yoshino asked softly after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

Shikamaru felt a small smile break onto his face.

"We've thought it through... sort of. We'll be moving to Suna. Oh and we're getting married. "

Yoshino let out a long breath and looked down at her cup of tea.

"You're having a baby?" She asked.

"Yes, we are" Temari smiled, resting a hand on Shikamaru's arm.

"And... You're leaving?"

Shikamaru reached forward and placed his hand over this mothers'.

"Nothing is decided for sure but... yeah that's the plan."

She raised her gaze and Shikamaru saw that tears had welled up in her eyes. He gripped her hand tightly and she nodded slowly.

"I...I don't know what to say... I'm happy for you. For _both_ of you, really."

"Thank you, Yoshino-San. That really means a lot." Temari was looking at his mother with caring eyes and Shikamaru knew from the very depth of his soul that he wouldn't regret choosing her over every other woman who ever existed. She was the one. She turned her head to look at him and they shared a small smile.

They ended up having lunch in Shikamaru's childhood home and when it was midday, they left for Suna promising to drop back in to visit her once they got back.

"We'll only be there for a few days," they promised.

As they made their way through the forest, they didn't talk for a while until Temari spoke up.

"Do you really think you'll be able to do it?" She asked. "To leave Konoha?"

"For you?" He grinned. "Absolutely."

She turned her head away from him, to hide a smile he suspected, and he came to a sudden stop.

She turned to see why he was, by then, a few feet behind her and arched an eyebrow when she found no reason.

"What's up? Why did you stop?"

"I just... Thank you."

She crossed her arms and walked closer to him. "For what?"

"I don't know yet. But thank you."

She snorted and hit his arm.

"Let's keep going, we can break for camp in an hour and half."

He rolled his eyes and started catching up to Temari, who had sped on ahead.

When the stars had begun climbing through the sky, they set down their gear and sat down around the small fire that Shikamaru had lit. They didn't speak, but he wound his arm around her waist, convincing himself that this satisfaction could last.

Convincing himself that it would last.

And he had never felt so at ease.

* * *

 _ **A/N: hey guys as I'm alive~ I'm sorry it's been, like, a million years. I've been in hospital actually, so I guess my priority wasn't really in writing fanfics 😁 I really don't be as regular as I used to be, I'm still a little shook up and I have regular checkups now, but I'll do my best. I'm sorry for the long absence, and thank you to everyone who left me messages and reviews in the time I was gone, it really means a lot to receive support from so many amazing people!**_

 _ **Okay I'll wrap this up now, I'm sorry that this isn't anything amazing, I'm not back with a bang, but I'm trying to improve slowly until I'm back to a better standard than before!**_

 _ **Stay happy and healthy guys**_

 _ **~Lee :)**_


	6. Read me!

**[** ** _AN]_** _hey hi hello greetings etc, ChlorineObsession here ?_

 _I'm sorry for making an entire chapter dedicated to an authors note. I would only read this if you are genuinely interested in my fics because it's kinda long and probably boring *but* You might be interested by this so here we go!_

 _I have spent the past few weeks wondering whether or not to just delete the stories that I haven't completed yet along with possibly disabling my account. This isn't because of anything specific, I just haven't been feeling particularly capable of finishing a lot of the works I'd started, and I also have exams in June which are pretty much gonna decide whether or not I'm getting the scholarship I've been working towards for the past 3 years, so I suppose I've been rather busy._

 ** _However._**

 _Writing does bring me a lot of joy, and I've begun writing for a different fandom on a different site. I've made some incredible friends through this fandom and it made me realise how detached this community is, which is why I've decided that instead of just scrapping what I've got so far, I want to try improving it instead._

 _After my exams in June, I will begin working on remastered versions of all the fics I decide to continue with, as well as reaching out to people for support with these fics._

 ** _This is where you come in!_**

 _I'll be looking for some help and outside opinions regarding how I change my stories and perhaps start some new ones. This will be in the form of editors, beta readers and just anyone willing to listen to my rambling._

 _For this, I'm hoping to set up a discord server. For anyone who doesn't use discord, it's an app usually used for gamers as far as I'm aware, but it's just really handy for communicating/planning and forming a community._

 _If you're interested in giving a hand, meeting other people within the fandom and also getting support for your own fics, hit me up in the comments or in pms. If I get enough interest, I'll launch this initiative and we can help boost this (kinda withering) community._

 _I'll add in more details if I see it fit to do so!_

 _Let me know what you think,_

 _~Lee_


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